Fences have been used for several hundred years as means for enclosing or providing a barrier for real property. Typical prior art fences are constructed of wood or metal, and comprises fence panels and posts which are permanently secured or driven into a ground. However, fences constructed of wood are subject to swelling and shrinking due to moisture and temperature changes. Likewise, fences constructed of metal are subject to rust and corrosion due to moisture.
Large amounts of time and labor are typically required to assemble these prior art fences. First, the posts must be driven into the ground or secured to the ground using concrete footings. Second, the fence panels must be mounted to the posts. The manner in which the fence panels are mounted varies according to the type of fence panels or connection devices being used, and the design or purpose of the fence. Typical fence panels comprise vertically oriented fence modules, such as wooden boards, mounted to one or more horizontal rails. The horizontal rails are used to mount the fence panels to the posts and provide lateral support for the fence panels. However, the typical horizontal rails are rigid, thereby adding an inflexible quality to the fence panel. Note that once the prior art fence is assembled, unassembling the fence or moving the fence to another location becomes a difficult task, particularly when the posts are secured to the ground using the concrete footings.
Fences designed to prevent persons outside of the fenced property from seeing inside the fence property often require larger amounts of time and labor to assemble. These fences, referred to herein as privacy fences, require the fence modules to be positioned directly adjacent to each other such that there are no spaces between the fence modules. Accordingly, a greater quantity of fence modules are used and more time and labor are needed in order to assemble the privacy fences. Furthermore, the privacy established by the privacy fences are often compromised when wood is used to construct the privacy fences. The reason for this is because of the swelling and shrinking of the fence modules caused by moisture and temperature changes would result in the creation of spaces between adjacent fence modules.
Accordingly, there exists a need for a fence that is not subject to swelling or shrinking due to changes in weather and temperature. There also exists a need for a fence that is simpler to assemble, and simpler to unassemble such that the fence may be moved.